Jordan Spieth finishes season at No. 1

by atom bash

Jordan Spieth is living proof you can’t keep a good man down as he won the Fedex Championship yesterday, Sunday, Sept. 27 to re-establish himself as the No. l player in the world, according to Golf Digest. Not only did he win $10 million for his latest victory, but he also smashed the record for most money won in a year by a golfer. He proved all year he was the most dangerous after one of his rare bad outings as he climaxed his season with this impressive victory after recently failing to miss a couple of cuts.

He started that trend in the Masters Golf Tournament last spring when he surged to the lead. Anytime another player would gain a stroke he would regain that shot on the next hole. And on the rare occasions when he recorded a bogey, it was almost inevitable he would respond with a birdie. He proved to be master of the mental game as he refused to wilt under pressure and at age 21 became the second youngest to ever win at Augusta.

He replicated that performance at the U.S. Open when he lost a three-stroke lead near the end, but rebounded on the 72nd Hole with a birdie to edge out Dustin Johnson by one stroke. That dramatic victory placed him in rare company as one of the few golfers in history to win the first two majors in a year. And he came so close to wining the Grand Slam as he missed out on at playoff at the British Open by the few inches a putt missed the hole late in that major.

A second place in the PGA only emphasized how close he could come to becoming the first golfer in modern history to win a calendar Grand Slam. Even Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in their primes never accomplished that rare feat. Tiger Woods never won all four in the same year though he did spread them out over two years once.

In the wake of his history-making victory, the Dallas native tweeted, “This was a nice year for the team.”

Spieth was a putting machine in the Tour Championship yesterday as he brought the East Lake course to its knees with a 69 in the final round which clinched the season-ending victory. He put an exclamation mark at the end of the season by sinking an 8-foot par putt to clinch the season-ending win and more money than he may be able to spend.

In his record breaking season he won more than $22 million which is a million per each year of his life. You add enough of those millions together and pretty soon one comes up with some real cash. Vijay Singh won $10.91 million in 2004 while Tiger Woods comes in third with his 2007 season in which he tabulated $10.87 million, according to ESPN.

What will the newest superstar of sports do with all this money people are throwing at him? He said, “It allows me to now even more so, take care of the people that have given me to this position and allowed this to happen. Like I always say, it is a team effort. A lot of behind-the scenes work goes on when we’re at home, when we’re in the early stages and on course here……”

Part of his team is caddy Michael Greller who may have won more than two million dollars this year. That compares favorably with the $77,000 a year he was making teaching six-graders in 2013. That was when he was hired by Spieth to be his caddy. Greller quit his teaching job which turned out to be a wise decision financially.

Observers warned if Spieth could maintain his motivation after winning the Masters this year. People continued to marvel all year as he had the determination to break the alltime money-winning record. Now the experts are wondering if he can maintain the kind of motivation in the coming years which will make him a legend of the game. A wise person wouldn’t bet against Jordan Spieth.